Bending tool for wire rod hangers



Feb. 17, 1959 G. T. WALDRON BENDING TOOL FOR WIRE ROD HANGERS FiledApril 29, 1957 Gem/d T. Wale/ran INVENTOR.

v 2,873,635 j, t nnNnINGTooL FOR WIRE ROD HANGERS I 4 Gerald Waldron,Roanoke, Va. Application-April 29, 1957, Serial No.655,703 I 3'Claims.(Cl. 8115) I The present invention generally relates to a hand tool andmore particularly to a tool for bending wire rod hangers for metal lathsupporting channel irons.

In building construction, plaster ceilings are generally supported by aplurality of channels suspended by a plurality of wire rod hangers. Itis necessary to securely fasten the channels to the wire rod hangers inorder to assure proper support for the ceiling. It is also necessarythat all ofthe wire rodhangers for supporting the channels be'associated with the channels for supporting the channels in a horizontalposition to provide a level ceiling construction. Heretofore, these wirerod hangers have been bent by employing available hand tools, such aspliers and similar tools. This operation has proven quite time consumingand also adversely affects the wire rod hangers since these toolssometimes cut into the wire rod hanger at a point of bending thereof,and due to the construction of the wire rod hangers, the flexing of thehanger when there is a cut or-nick in the hanger will cause fracture orpartial fracture thereof. Accordingly, it is the primary object of thepresent invention to provide a tool for bending the wire rod hangers inan efficient manner with no damage to the hangers occurring.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bending tool forwire rod hangers including a stationary and movable jaw or diearrangement, together with a double purpose handle which serves to movethe dies apart for receiving the wire rod and subsequently bending thewire rod around the other of the dies.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the tool of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an end view of the construction of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the tool as viewed from theopposite side from Figure 1 and showing the manner in which the jaws aremoved apart for receiving the wire rod therein;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the present invention;

Figure 5 illustrates the initial movement of the bend- .ing roller; and

Figure 6 illustrates the final movement of the bending roller forforming the U-shaped bend for receiving the supporting channels. I

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generallydesignates the bending tool of the present invention for use in bendingwire rod hangers 12 for supporting a channel shaped member which in turnsupports the metal lath for a ceiling construction.

The bending tool 10 includes an elongated, stationary handle 14 having aperpendicularly arranged, stationary jaw or die 16 on one end thereof.

A movable jaw or die 18 is disposed normally against the stationary die16. A lower or idler link 20 inter- F atten ted Feb. 17, 19 5 9 connectsthe dies 16 and 18 by virtue of pivot bolts 22- connecting therespective ends of the link 20 to the dies 16 and 18. A pressure link 24interconnects the upper ends of the dies 16 and 18 by virtue of pivotbolts 26. The inner end of the link 24 is provided with an extension 28having a laterally projecting lug 30 slidably received on a bolt 32secured to the stationary handle by a pivot pin 34. A compression coilspring 36 encircles the bolt 32 and abuts the upper surface of thelateral projection 30, with the outer end of the spring 36 being engagedby an adjustable nut 38 on the outer end of the bolt 32, thus biasingthe spring 36 into engagement with the extension 30, thus normallyurging the dies 16 and 18 into clamping engagement.

The facing surfaces or jaws of the dies 16 and 18 are provided withrecesses or vertically extending notches 40 for clampingly engaging thehanger rod 12. Figure 3 specifically illustrates the normal position ofthe dies 16 and 18, that is, in downwardly diverging relation so thatthe wire rod hanger-12 will be gripped adjacent the upper end of thejaws 16 and 18. This eliminates the possibility ofthe lower edges of thedies cutting into, nicking or handle 14 and in the same vertical plane.

otherwise damaging the surface of the wire rod hanger 12.

An elongated pivotal handle 42 is connected with the lower end of themovable die 18 by pivot bolt 44 and generally extends into underlyingrelation to the stationary Adjacent the pivot bolt 44, the elongatedhandle 42 is provided with a projecting stud 46 with a roller 48journaled thereon. The lower end of the stationary jaw or die 16 isprovided with a semi-cylindrical recess 50 for receiving the roller 48,whereby movement of the handle 42 towards the stationary handle 14 willcause downward movement of the movable jaw or die 18 in relation to thestationary die 16 substantially as illustrated in dotted line in Figure3, thus separating the dies 16 and 18 for permitting insertion of thewire rod hanger 12. The movement of the dies 16 and 18 away from eachother partially compresses the spring 32 wherein release of the movablehandle 42 will automatically cause the jaws 16 and 18 to clamp the wirerod hanger 12. When the movable handle 42 is moved in the otherdirection, that is, away from the stationary handle 14, the roller 48will engage the portion of the wire rod hanger 12 projecting below thedies 16 and 18 and continued pivotal movement of the elongated handle 42will cause the wire rod hanger 12 to be bent around the lower end of themovable jaw 18 which forms an anvil for forming the wire rod hanger 12with a substantially U-shaped bend for receiving a channel when thechannel is disposed with the web thereof in a vertical position, whereinthe channel may subsequently be employed for supporting a metal laththerefrom.

The relationship of the roller 48 to the lower end of the movable jaw ordie 18 permits the wire rod hangers to bend with a certain radius ofcurvature retained there in. This will assure that the wire rod hangersare not weakened by partial fracture of the wire rod hangers at thebends formed therein.

After all of the wire rod hangers have been provided with an index linefor indicating the point of bending, the present invention may beemployed by positioning the wire rod hangers in between the stationaryand movable jaws with the reference line being disposed at the bottom ofthe stationary jaw 16 wherein all of the U- shaped bends on all of thewire rod hangers may be accurately positioned and rapidly formed forproviding accurate support for the ceiling construction.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A tool for bending the free end of a wire rod hanger intosubstantially U-shaped configuration for receiving a ceiling supportingchannel disposed with the web thereof in vertical position, said toolcomprising an elongated stationary handle, a transversely extending dieon one end of said stationary handle, a movable die, means supportingthe movable die on the stationary die in facing relation for movement inrelation thereto for receiving the wire rod therebetween, spring meansengaging the stationary handle and the supporting means for the movabledie for urging the movable die towards the stationary die for clampingthe wire rod hanger therebetween, an elongated handle pivotallysupported on one end of said movable die, and a wire rod engagingabutment on the pivotally supported handle for engaging the wire rod andbending the wire rod around the end of said movable die upon pivotalmovement of the handle, said dies being generally rectangular in shapethereby forming a generally U-shaped bend in the wire rod.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said supporting means for the dieincludes a pair of substantially parallel links pivotally connected toeach of the dies,

one of said links extending beyond said stationary jaw and terminatingin spaced relation to the stationary handle, said spring means beingconnected with the terminal end of the said one of the links and withthe stationary handle for urging the dies towards each other.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said abutment is made in the formof a roller journaled on the pivotally supported handle, said rollerbeing spaced from the pivot axis of the handle a distance for underlyingthe adjacent end of the stationary die and positioned on the oppositeside of the wire rod whereby pivotal movement of the pivotal handletowards the stationary handle will swing the movable die away from thestationary die for receiving the wire rod therebteween and movement ofthe pivotal handle away from the stationary handle will cause the rollerto roll the wire rod around the end of the movable die thereby forming aU-shaped bend therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,319,798 Satterlee Oct. 28, 1919 2,263,345 Anderson Nov. 18, 19412,675,723 Stein Apr. 20, 1954 2,678,573 Taylor May 18, 1954

